Friday 13 July 2018

What they really really want

Eeny, meeny, miny moe, one of us had better say something about the BBC’s coverage of the anti-Trump protests, and since Craig is stricken with sunstroke, (or some other sun-related indisposition) I’d better have a go. 

I was, of course referring to the BBC’s coverage of President Trump’s visit.  Calling it “the BBC’s coverage of the anti-Trump protests”  seemed the most accurate way to describe what I saw today. 
Given the glee with which “everyone” responded to the balloon prank the minute Mayor Khan gave it the thumbs up, the extensive airtime the BBC dedicated to today’s anti-Trump protests came as no surprise.

The BBC is ever so keen to stress that the protests are not about the office of POTUS, but solely about the individual, whom they sometimes call “the incumbent”.  The BBC is anxious to make this particular point at every opportunity, as it keeps the protesters just the right side of the moral high ground (as they see it.) I assume straightforward anti-Americanism isn’t the correct attitude for an impartial broadcaster to encourage.

Several reporters have been telling us what Trump really wants. I wonder how everyone knows what President Trump ‘wants’? No matter. They’re certain that he’s primarily interested in being seen with the Queen or being photographed standing next to her.  That’s what Trump ‘wants’. Fact.

Random demonstrators are plucked from the crowd by Anita McVeigh and Co., to speak for the protesters.

“Why are you here today?” 
“Because Policies. Misogyny! Fascism! Racism! Policies!”

Just, you know, “policies”. Only the BBC seems not to notice the inanity of these responses.

However, Melania went down very well with the Chelsea Pensioners and some kids. She appeared elegant and friendly and she threw or bowled the obligatory ball while wearing a pair of towering heels. And why not? The Duchess of Cambridge does it all the time.

Towering heels make you look ridiculous. Especially coming down the steps from a plane. In fact, they make you look idiotic as soon as you start to move. Think Amal Clooney, ambassador for the Ministry of Silly Walks. 

Since we now know what Trump ‘wants’, perhaps the BBC will tell us what the protesters want, zigazig ah.

What if the protesters are right, and Donald Trump genuinely is so thin-skinned and immature that he takes offence bigly and cuts off our special relationship good and proper, once and for all. No more holding hands with Theresa. Are they hoping to drive us back to the EU?  Is that it? 
What if their antics propel the Labour Party into power? Venezuela?   Is that really it? We should be told.



13 comments:

  1. Americophobia is not yet recognised as a hate crime category but ought to be.

    I actually think the BBC have been a bit more assiduously impartial in their coverage than usual, although of course you could still query a lot of their presumptions...more balance on show than normal in all that I've heard and seen. I suspect a few e mails have been flying around within the BBC, reminding editors to be on their best behaviour lest the BBC cause some diplomatic incident or the Prez zeroes in on "another beauty".

    For instance I've heard ITV refer to the visit as "controversial" - but haven't heard the BBC use that favourite of theirs.

    Someone (Terry?) did point out the BBC were censoring Trump's comments on the dangers to European culture from mass immigration. That sounds quite likely. They don't want to get into the substance of Trump's critique.

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    1. It wasn't me MB. I have no means of knowing what the BBC are censoring.

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  2. Once again, the number of anti Trump protesters is proving hard to establish. Most reports talk of 'thousands'. The BBC:

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44826146

    ... 'Tens of thousands of protesters filled central London's streets on Friday to tell US President Donald Trump what they thought of his visit to the UK.' ...

    In this report, there is a picture of the protesters in Trafalgar Square, but close-ups show plenty of space - people are not packed tightly together. I would need convincing that there were more than a few thousand there. But to cap it all, the Evening Standard tells us that ...'Nearly 250,000 march against President's visit' ...

    The BBC have made themselves look foolish. Donald Trump chose to give an interview to the Sun and not to our national broadcaster. John Sopel looked foolish as he pretended to be 'in the loop' whilst standing on the pavement in Windsor. I remember he managed to interview 'someone from the White House' whilst standing on the pavement in Washington.

    Donald Trump has the knack of speaking directly to the public in language they understand, whilst sidelining the BBC and large parts of the MSM.

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    1. The Mail (showing its new anti-Brexit credentials) is suggesting 100,000. I'd be surprised if it was more than 10,000.

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  3. There was a. frankly, embarrassing "protest" in Cardiff yesterday, consisting of about twenty in the city center and actually sixteen outside the assembly. BBC Wales insisted on reporting this as "unprecedented" protests in the history of US Presidents (not actually visiting Wales).
    I just don't think they care anymore.

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    1. There's a typically misleading headline from the BBC News website:

      ... 'Thousands protest as Trump plays golf' ...

      The detail missed in the headline is that Turnberry is the best part of 100 miles away from Edinburgh where the protests are. As with the London protests yesterday, it's a day of fun in the sun for these petty-minded protesters.

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    2. The organisers of the Edinburgh march state there were 60,000 present. The police say 9,000.

      Bear that in mind when reading that there were 100,000 in London.

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  4. Lol yea, although it really amuses me that these people didn’t protest the visit of the Chinese Premier -you know a country that actually has death camps and runs over students with tanks.....the USA and GB doesn’t get everything right but they at least try to be defenders of the free world, these people would probably be locked up and dead if it wasn’t for this. It’s something that they seem to find very easy to forget.

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    1. And they burn down Christian churches if they don't have State approval. I don't know what they do to the Uighurs - they're Muslims I believe and there is conflict of some sort.

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  5. I wonder who orchestrated the London protest. There's often some political or campaign group behind such things. Whoever it was had the official endorsement of the Mayor of London, courtesy of a full page in the Evening Standard on Thursday with his own-name banner and call to rights: "Londoners have a right to speak out against the President's visit." He's even got the "carnival atmosphere" phrase that I heard repeated so many times yesterday in the TV coverage. https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/comment/londoners-have-a-right-to-speak-out-against-the-president-s-visit-a3885671.html

    Poor downtrodden Londoners.

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  6. BBC and MSM getting behind May. You can tell by the pics they choose, the way they describe her attendance at Wimbledon, the support for her laughing dismissal of Trump's suggestion that she sue the EU. But she's got a fight on her hands. Come on Boris!

    BTW I feel personally I have been lied to and misled by May. I really did think she intended to detach the UK from the EU, albeit she had handled the negotiations badly. I thought the deal was we had to fork out billions but would get a basic free trade deal with some safeguards of mutual benefit. But no, it seems all along she meant to keep us in the EU's suffocating embrace. "Brexit means Brexit" never meant "Brexit means pretty remaining tied to the EU." She might get off in court on a technicality (like some dodgy contractor) but there can be no doubt that, in terms of what people perceived her to be saying, she lied.

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    1. I think the BBC have been covertly behind Theresa May since they abandoned Jeremy Corbyn after the May 2018 local elections, deciding then that he was unelectable. Prior to May 2018, they had considered that through him they could manoeuvre a Labour government towards their goals of remaining in the EU, or alternatively creating the softest of Brexit deals by remaining in the single market and the customs union.

      But, to their surprise no doubt, they discovered the true agenda that Theresa May was pushing for - alongside a Cabinet of Remainers - as exposed for all to see at the Chequers meeting. This meeting resulted in Boris Johnson and DD resigning - something the BBC had been pushing for all along. I bet they couldn't believe their luck.

      With the BBC Brexit narrative coming to fruition (as they would have it), now we are seeing photos of Theresa May as a smiling, compassionate, sympathetic energetic strong woman. Personally, I don't buy it. I think she has sold us down the river.

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    2. Now, I believe, the BBC are tolerant of the group of pro EU Conservatives - something that would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. I suspect that they are seeking to distance themselves from the traditional Conservative vote. What they seem to be doing with all this anti Trump activism is to associate a pro Trump UK voter with the nasty white middle class uneducated racist xenophobes that inhabit the majority of the UK well away from London.

      It has been noticeable that Theresa May has only held interviews with Marr during her premiership, and that he has given her an easy time. It's obvious now what plans were afoot.

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